Puerto Rican Day Parade shake-up after state probe

The Puerto Rican Day Parade will march on, but under new leadership.

The Puerto Rican Day Parade will march on, but under new leadership after a state probe.Credit: Getty Images

The Puerto Rican Day Parade will march on, but under new leadership.

The nonprofit that runs the parade has been overhauled after a state probe found years of financial mismanagement, officials announced Thursday.

"We have reached an agreement that will begin a new day for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

Under a settlement announced by Schneiderman, three members on the parade's board of directors stepped down and 10 new members were appointed.

An investigation by the attorney general's office found that a longtime fundraiser for the parade, Carlos Velasquez and his Galos Corporation Inc., siphoned off some $1.4 million in corporate donations since 2008.

Velasquez has been fundraising for the parade for more than 30 years. Under the settlement, Galos may not collect $1 million in fees owed by the parade and Velasquez must pay an additional $100,000 to event organizers.

The probe found organizers allowed mismanagement of the funds raised by Galos. Under the agreement, the parade is required to adopt new policies to enhance oversight.

The announcement comes just four months before the annual parade. Some 80,000 people marched last year in one of the largest ethnic demonstrations in the country.